Cynical
by GrinGrin
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, prospective Chuunin, is suddenly flung into a world he doesn't understand without any warning. Will the Dobe be able to survive in this horrifying world?
1. The Beginning of the End

_I do not own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead._

**Cynical**

**Beginning of the End**

This was not Naruto Uzumaki's year.

Sure, it had started out great. He had finally graduated. He had gotten onto a team with Sakura-chan. He got free reward-ramen. The Old Man was proud of him…

That was just about that for the good news.

He was also on a team with Sasuke-teme. His sensei was lazy, late and never trained with them. His first mission led to the death of one of his first true friends. He found out about the Kyuubi. He had seen Iruka be crippled. He had killed for the first time. He had almost flunked the Chuunin exams. He got pulverised by some weird ungodly-strong freak from Kusa.

And now he couldn't get to fucking sleep because his stomach was trying to fucking kill him.

Naruto curled himself into an even tighter ball. He would get in _so_ much trouble if he woke Sakura-chan. It had happened on the Wave-mission. It had not been pretty.

But the _pain!_ Naruto had already drawn blood as he clenched his fist, nails digging into his palms. What had that freak done to him?

GAH!

Another wave of pain rose over him, harsher and stronger than the high that Naruto felt that he could taste it. Blood and iron, tears and sweat.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Each time, it was more painful. Each time he was sure it couldn't get any worse.

Each time he was wrong.

He had drawn himself up into a little ball, arms clenched behind his knees. He wouldn't scream. He _wouldn't_.

He was Naruto fucking Uzumaki. Uzumaki didn't cry.

* * *

Anko was trying to get a betting pool underway.

It was kinda difficult if you didn't know who was in the running, but hell. Why not live a little? They were shinobi. That had to take their little slices of pleasure where they could.

Before she could try to _convince_ one of the chuunin that no, betting wasn't against regulations, she was knocked over by an explosion higher up in the tower.

* * *

Ohgodohgodherfeetwere**gone!**

The pain was unbearable. But even through it all, the little voice in Sakura's head didn't waver.

_Bandages now. Rip your clothing. Nudity is better than death._

It had a point. Grabbing a kunai, Sakura started shredding her sheets and clothes, anything she could get her hands on to try and _stopthebleeding._

* * *

Anko was very surprised when she saw what that pink-haired little genin was doing.

_This one is surprising._

Many would think that bandaging any life-threatening wounds would be common sense, and they would be right. But not many realised how difficult it was to keep common sense alive _you_ were the one dying.

But this little puffball had done exactly that. Oh, she was crying and screaming and shivering, but she was also coping. Or trying to. The scraps she was tying around her shattered legs wouldn't do a lot, but it was something at least.

_But what happened here?_

Anko was scanning the area, trying to get some sense of perspective.

_Okay. Hole in the tower about 6 metres across. Not explosive in nature, no shrapnel or scorch marks. It was like someone had just _scooped_ out a chunk of the tower._

_Wait._

_She was on team seven. Where was the Jinchuuriki?_

Anko glanced back at the hole. If she remembered correctly… the other bed should have been right in the middle of it.

The Hokage was going to be _pissed_.

* * *

Naruto woke up.

Naruto realised he was falling.

Naruto was promptly struck by the falling ceiling, just after he impacted the ground.

_The fuck is going on?_

He was buried beneath a lot of rubble. Naruto could still feel the mattress of his assigned bunk under him, so he was probably in the tower. So what had happened? Had the floor just collapsed? Explosive note? The demon acting up? Assassination attempt?

_Doesn't matter. Still alive._

Naruto started digging his way out of the mess he had landed in. It was a tedious process, not so much because it was difficult, but because he was getting splinters everywhere. He was just damn grateful he still had his jumpsuit on, otherwise there would have been splinters where splinters should _never_ be.

Oh, hello. This wasn't the tower.

Huh. Wasn't Konoha either.

Shit. It wasn't anyplace he had ever seen before.

_What the hell happened?_

Crap. Time to put his training to use. He owed it to Iruka-sensei.

_Step one, check for hazards._

The area around him was quiet. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound except the wind. It was a strange place, concrete everywhere. That spoke well of wherever-he-was's financial situation. Concrete was freakin' expensive. Or so he thought.

_Step two, take stock._

Okay. He had his juimpsuit. No kunai-pouch. No shoes or sandals. His headband. Physically, he was fine. The splinters were a mild annoyance at best. Judging by the slight stinging from his back, he had taken a cut or something there. His stomach was, to his surprise, a lot better.

He tried to channel enough chakra to make a kage bunshin. Nope. Still not fixed then. And that little spike of agony he just felt? He better be careful with his chakra.

_Step three, gather useful items in close proximity_.

Looking around, Naruto could see a lot of crap. His kunai pouch was actually here, just halfway hidden behind some broken planks. He could see a bit of blue as well, and so he found his first sandal. After digging around a bit, he found the other one as well. So he now had weapons and shoes. _What else?_

The sheets could be used for makeshift rope, bandages or hammock. Take it. Wrap around chest. Was there anything he missed?

…

Nope.

_Step four, gather information._

Where was he going to find something like that? For all intents and purposes, the place seemed abandoned. He hadn't seen anyone or anything that moved. He hadn't heard anything that indicated life. But that was a lie, wasn't it?

Naruto _could_ actually hear some screaming. And where there was screaming, there were people.

So he started jogging towards the screaming, as was his nature.

Naruto never did see the two dainty little feet that had been buried in the rubble.

Everyone was drunk.

Literally everyone naruto could see was just stumbling around in a stupor, totally ignoring the blood that coated the ground they were walking on.

_Must have been __**some**__ brawl._

But there was still screaming. A lot of it. Why didn't these people do anything? That wasn't right. So he decided to do what Naruto Uzumaki did best.

He jumped through the air and landed next to one of the bigger stumblers and grabbed his shoulder. "OI! Don't you hear that? Someone's in trouble. Come-on, you can be drunk later."

Naruto was surprised at the man's expression. That wasn't the face of a drunkard. Oh, no, no at all.

In fact, the closest thing he had seen to that expression was Haku…

Lost in sad remembrance, Naruto was _way_ too late to stop the man from biting into his shoulder.

* * *

AN: Okay, Naruto/HSotD…

First of all (since it bears repeating) I HATE my muse. It can't leave anything alone.

Okay, now that that's out of the way…

This isn't your typical version of this particular crossover. The ones I've read (and they've only been a few, I admit that) follow some kind of Badass!Naruto. I'm talking either ANBU, Rinnegan or Naruto who was not only aware of where he was going, but also specifically prepared for it. Please note that I'm not flaming anything or trying to be an insulting bastard, but that's the equivalent of giving one kid a shotgun and the rest peashooters.

So no. I'm not doing that. Instead of Naruto at his godly prime, we have Naruto at his humble beginnings. This is Naruto, just after the first stage of the Chuunin exams. This is Naruto sealed by both the Shinigami and Orichimaru. This is Naruto who only knows kage bunshin, kawarimi and henge. This is fifteen year old, unprepared Naruto, thrown into a world of absolute chaos.

Fifteen year old Naruto? What madness is this? Remember in canon that Naruto failed two final-academy exams? And it didn't make any kind of impact what-so-freakin-ever? Not here. This Naruto was held back two years, not because he was stupid, but because the Hokage wanted all the important people (clan heirs, last Uchiha and the Jinchuuriki) in the same group. He is not a nice man in this world.

Naruto knows about the Kyuubi, but he believes his healing and chakra came from his Uzumaki-heritage (the Hokage told him). The effects of Orichomaru's sealing basically means that Naruto can't channel any large amount of chakra (a.k.a. kage bunshin), but the Kyuubi can still heal him… to an extent.

Naruto isn't going to turn. But he **is** going to weakened even more. I imagine he's going to end up as effective as Takashi in battle. And yes, he is hooking up with the canon!survivor group.

About that… No pairings with Naruto. Ever. The only thing that is going to happen to him is hugs, accidental touching or peeping or a platonic!kiss. He's a bit too young for me to feel comfortable to write about that.

As for how he got here… both seals affected each other. Naruto hurt himself due to that pain. Kyuubi releases more chakra to heal him, hurts Naruto more, Naruto hurts himself more, more chakra released, you get the point. It reaches a certain point and BAM! Hole in the fabric of reality. That hole basically cut out a sphere approximately 3 meters wide out of Naruto's world and places it in HSotD.

Yes, Sakura lost her feet to the sphere. No, I'm not expanding on the Naruto verse, except to explain certain things. It is not part of the story as it is.

'Crippled Iruka? WHAT.' That Fuuma-shuriken hit his spine. He can't move his legs anymore. Also a reason why Naruto is a bit different and suddenly pays attention to lessons and his environment. It's his way of atoning for Iruka.

Quick note, though? Naruto is probably one of the worst possible people to get transported to zombie!verse. His MO, in my mind, is to get right in someone's face, take what they dish out and use that opportunity to give it back ten-fold. Try that with zombies? Not gonna end well. Hmmmmm... I may actually expand on that... create a series of drabbles that NO! Bad Muse. Too many things already. (Might still happen though).

But this Naruto is a bit more clever that in canon. He thinks. Which should help a bit.

But this is getting waaaaaaaaay too long.

Read, enjoy, review.

~GrinGrin

Written: 20/12/2013

Updated: 20/12/2013


	2. Infection

_**AN: HUGE AN at the bottom. Don't get too excited about the length.**_

_I do not own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead._

**Cynical**

**Infection**

"Okay, that's just wrong."

Kunai to the eye.

Didn't matter if it was a civilian, that just doesn't work. The headband meant 'do not fuck with this'. Everyone knew that. So when a freakin' civvy bites you, that's their own stupidity and method of suicide. Suicide-by-Shinobi. Had kind of a ring to it.

But damnit, that _hurt_. It wasn't quite in the leagues he was used to (and it didn't come near the agony his stomach had put him through), but still. It shouldn't have hurt as much.

Idly rubbing the wound, and glancing at the blood that coated his fingers, Naruto glanced around. It looked like the other stumblers were getting closer. _The hell was up with them?_

All of them had that glazed, vacant look in their eyes. Some looked to have been mauled pretty bad by something as well. But they weren't bleeding. _They should be bleeding. Hell, that guy over there should be dead._

Naruto mentally took stock. He had about seven of these guys close enough to him to be a threat. Well, so much a threat as any bite-happy druggies could be. Still, he wasn't exactly keen on getting bit again. _Did that guy have razors for teeth or something? Even Kiba didn't bite that deep._

"Okay guys. I don't like hurting civilians, but you all saw that. He attacked first. No need to get upset. It's just the way things are, you know? Bite a shinobi, get a kunai in your head. Come on, do you wanna die too? Go away. Go away. For fuck's sake, just GO AWAY!"

They weren't going away. In fact, more of them were coming from around the corners of the building he was in front of. _What is that, anyway? Meh. Worry later. Fight now._

One of these people, a woman, had gotten close enough to lunge. Naruto almost casually smashed his fist into her midsection. He never liked hitting girls. Didn't sit right with him. _But that should keep her down fo- no way._

She was getting up. Even he would have had trouble with that. Full body fall into a speeding fist? He'd be vomiting up dinner. Which was also weird. He could have sworn it was night when he fell asleep last night. But he had woken up in the day? How had he not noticed that?

Again, didn't matter. Not now. The girl was already up, and lunging again. He didn't like hurting women, but that didn't mean he _couldn't_. So he palmed a kunai, spun around her back and stabbed her twice, once in each kidney. _There. Problem solved._

_Okay, problem not solved, problem pretty much still here, actually worse I just slipped in some blood, why wasn't she __**DEAD?**_

Naruto was in trouble. What should have been an easy kill was turning into a nightmare. The decidedly **un**dead woman was now just a couple of centimetres away from his face and would most likely have bitten his nose off if he hadn't managed to get his arms crossed under her neck. This was just not his day.

More of those freaks were coming closer, and if he didn't do _something_ soon, he was in for a world of hurt. _Naruto Uzumaki wasn't about to be killed by a bunch of civvies, dattebayo!_

But he was also stuck in a compromising position. How was he going to get out of here? His eyes were frantic as he looked for some solution. Nothing close by, kunai weren't going to help, the goggles did nothing, his feet were pinned so he couldn't get leverage and _he was a ninja_.

Giving a amused snort, he went with the most obvious answer. Let go of the thing's neck, bring hands together, _concentrate_ and voila! Kawarimi no jutsu saves yet another life.

He would have laughed at the rather comical scene of the woman smacking headfirst into the chest of one of the other freaks, but he was in a world of hurt. His stomach was acting up again. Or, at least, his seal was. And now his shoulder was starting to ache as well.

_Can't even use kawarimi? Damnit. What did Fang-face do to me?_

His grunt of pain seemed to attract some of the nearer stumblers, as they turned around and lurched towards him. _Fuck._

_How can I kill something that doesn't die?_

But they did die, didn't they? His first attacker was still unmoving.

_Something about the eyes? I swear to god, if it's another bullshit dojutsu…_

Still unstable from the pain, Naruto shambled forward. He walked right up into the closest one's face and timed his thrust to its lunge. The kunai went through its eye with no resistance, until the widened sides scraped against the bone. Plunging it out, Naruto was infinitely relieved that the things could die.

But his arm was hurting, hell it was almost worse than his stomach was now.

This was not a time to be messing around, trying to figure out how to kill these stupid meat-sacks.

_When injured and in an unknown situation, the wise shinobi retreats, recovers and reconnoitres._

Naruto was rather surprised when he made his way into the building, only to be met with a flash of pink hair.

"Sakura?"

* * *

AN: Yeah. Not all of these chapters are going to be as long as the first.

Okay, to clear up a couple of things. Actually, just the no-pairings take on this train-wreck.

Hear me out. The world Naruto came from was not kind. It isn't **GRIMDARK**, but it's not nice. The word I prefer is _pragmatic._ What this means is that they follow simple rules that make sense.

Shinobi are discouraged from engaging in relationships until they are Chuunin. Why? What do you get when you have someone capable of overpowering any civilian and is going through puberty? Instil this person with the rather twisted morality the shinobi of this world follows… you have one proto-rapist. I'm not saying that it happens, but the possibility must be considered.

Now note that Naruto is fabulously screwed up in the social department. This Naruto is an orphan. He is ignored and emotionally (and only emotionally) abused by the civilians. Shinobi support him, but they're also twisted killers, so it doesn't exactly do his mentality any good. Now take this child, put him in a situation where he _should_ succeed (and he does) but still punish him by holding him back two years, so that a political agenda can be met. Now inform this child that he carries a demon around inside him. Inform him that he is the last Uzumaki. Let him see his sensei get crippled in front of him. Lots of things that build upon one another until you get one twisted little boy.

The only semi-normal relationship he has is with the Hokage (later twisted when he learns about the things the Hokage kept away from him), the ramen-people (who may or may not see him only as a customer), Sakura (obsession) and Iruka (who got crippled). So actually, he's got nothing.

Now take that into account when you consider this world's desensitizing-training. I'm talking about encouraging killing and/or torture (if it's for the right cause) and reducing empathy all-round. Now put Naruto through that training three times. This training contains killing a spider by systematically ripping its limbs off, hatching and caring for a chick for one week before brutally killing and eating it and ends with letting the class loose in a civilian bandit camp where they get to kill their first real human targets. Naruto, at the start of his career in this world, has a higher kill count than canon!Naruto has until the time-skip.

Oh, and the pragmatic approach? That means stuff like scavenging kills, raiding civilians and cannibalism isn't just not discouraged, but encouraged in certain situations.

Shinobi are also given a much higher level of respect than in canon. Any person who can sense their own chakra is already much faster, stronger and tougher than a civilian. Which translates into the Suicide-by-Shinobi mentioned above.

So, this misanthropic Naruto, lacking social skills and history isn't suddenly going to score with a girl 2 or 3 years his senior. At best, he'll get pity and eventually evolve into the group's little brother. At worst? Irrational fear and paranoia leading up to an attempt on his life as he sleeps.

Look at the title of this story. Things aren't going to end well. At all.

Any other questions, PM me. I'll try to respond as quickly as I can.

This AN is fuckin' HUGE, so I'm done for now.

**Also note the poll in my profile page. It may prevent monster ANs like this one.**

Read, enjoy, review, vote and PM me if you want.

~GrinGrin

Written: 20/12/2013

Posted: 20/12/2013


	3. Escape

_I do not own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead._

**Cynical**

**Escape**

Not Sakura. At all.

Wrong shade of pink, way too tall, hair too long, too old, too much curves.

Not Sakura, but pretty damn close.

Just a shame they were so damn far away, though.

Naruto's brows furrowed as a metallic clang seemed to engulf the whole world. All the … creatures that were closing in on him stopped dead and turned towards the sound.

_Why? I'm closer. I'm bleeding. Why? Something to do with the sound?_

And it did look like it was the sound. The group Not-Sakura was with was suddenly being swarmed by those guys. Not like they could actually swarm, more like slowly surround, but still…

That group seemed to be mostly civvies, so they were liable to panic, so he had better make his damn way ove-

_Hello. Not a civvy, not that one at least._

Hell, that faintly blue-haired blur reminded him about the crazy-proctor lady in the exams. Not in the way she moved, gods no, but in the way he could see her mouth twitch into an almost smile. No way an untrained civilian reacted like that.

_Interesting._

Making up his mind, Naruto started moving towards the group, taking out the occasional shambler on his way. Kunai through the top of the spine also seemed to work. Either that, or they were paralyzed from the neck down, which also did the job. Not like he was going to play ball with one of the heads.

As he got closer, he started really looking at the little group.

_Two non-combatants, blondie and Not-Sakura._

_One ranged attacker, short boy with strange, ramshackle object. Seems to launch nails. Be careful._

_Three melee attackers, psycho-bluette, another guy and another brunette._

_Looks like their objective are those strange metal boxes. Why? Shelter? The building was better suited._

_Not important. I need to make contact with the natives. Hopefully they can explain what the fuck is going on here._

* * *

_Time to make an entrance, dattebayo!_

Giant-ass leap, kunai through the top the skull, save the life of short-boy and Not-Sakura and _hello!_

There was a freaking reason why skirts were considered distracting kunoichi-wear. Excellent at racking up kills from distracted male enemies, but also creating probable cause for friendly casualties.

In short, not ideal.

Blondie certainly didn't seem to mind, or even be aware of it for that matter. _Must be a local custom or something._

"Heya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I'm kinda lost, you looked like you needed help and I sure as hell _do_ need some, so mind if I tag along?"

_There. Every major point, short and sweet, objective and circumstances lain out clearly and a bit of pity/sympathy built up. Jiji would be proud._

The other guy, the one with the club, quickly glanced around. "Sure. But we'll talk later, okay? First we need to get to that bus. Think you can keep up?"

_Interesting. Not-Sakura was about to say something, but shut up when he started talking._

"Don't worry about me. These guys are a bit too slow to worry about. Nasty bite, though."

What the hell. Everyone suddenly looked at him like he was a blind and crippled puppy dying of cancer. Before he could ask, they seemed to have shaken it off.

Or maybe that was more to do with the shambler that suddenly lunged from around the corner. Meh.

_Not like it really matters._

Quick rush forwards, slide on the ground, hit the legs, target tumbles, reverse grip, up and in. Done.

"Can we not stare right now… please?"

_That should get them moving. Interesting though… psycho-bluette was staring more at the kunai than me… wonder why? It's standard shinobi kit, so it's not like it's uncommon. Bah. Follow own advice._

Not that they had a long way to go anymore. Just had to stay bundled up, protect the non-coms and cover each others backs.

That last part wasn't that difficult at all. These guys were already moving like a team. Psycho-bluette in front, knocking everything into next year. Club-guy follows up, eliminates the fallen ones. Brunette gets any of them he misses and covers the back and the non-coms. Short-boy covers the non-coms, the rear and the flanks.

_Which might be a problem. They're slow and there are lots of them. If that guy isn't careful…_

And, of course, he had no even finished the thought when the short-boy suddenly started spasming in panic. Which was totally unnecessary. There was only one of the shamblers close enough to be a threat and a simple kick would drive it far enough away that it wouldn't be a problem.

Naruto blinked. _Shit. Civvy! He doesn't think like that!_

Only one thing to do now…

Quick twitch of the wrist and the oh-so-satisfying _slice-thunk_ of a perfectly aimed kunai.

Short-boy looked really freaked out for a moment, but that went away as soon as he pushed something into that strange object he cared. Naruto shivered. The look short-boy suddenly got was entirely too close to fang-face to be comfortable.

Turning back towards the front, Naruto saw that they were just about at the target-object. _A bus, he called it?_

The vanguard spread out and kept most of the things away, while blondie suddenly ran up and did something to the side of the box. A door opened up and Not-Sakura and short-guy piled in.

After knocking one of the shamblers back, brunette jumped into the doorway. Or tried to.

Naruto had to suppress a chuckle as the makeshift-spear clanged against the sides of the box.

The chuckle was much easier to dismiss when he remembered how every thing came towards that sound.

_Not good._

At last, club-guy and psycho-bluette were also in the bus(?) and they motioned him over. Naruto was about to climb aboard when he realized he left one of his incredibly limited kunai (if bluette's previous expression was anything to go by) buried in the skull of one of the things.

"Two seconds! Won't be long!"

_This was going to hurt like a bitch._

Quick channel of chakra to his legs, drop to a semi-crouch, kick away from the side of the bus and BAM!

Racing through all the shamblers, dodging hungry hands and gaping maws by centimeters…

Slide on the ground, leave patches of skin on the curiously gritty surface.

Scramble for the kunai, index-finger through the hole, quick spin to clean it as he extracted it.

Glance upwards. Panicked expressions on everyone he could see, barring the shamblers. Door was closed, path almost blocked by jerking bodies.

Crouch, jump. Land on torso of male shambler, push off before he gets a grip.

Land, roll, come up running.

Leap, use chakra to gain foothold, leap again upwards.

Land on roof. Brisk knocking of a kunai on the roof, signalling he was there.

And suddenly having to hold on as the whole building wrenched forwards.

_Whoah! The fucking thing moves!_

* * *

AN: Yes, it's shorter than the other two chapters, but it's a start.

I think this type of short chapter (1000 words or so) will become somewhat commonplace, sorry to disappoint.

Anyway… I'm going to try and keep things with Naruto's perspective from now on. Keeps things somewhat simpler for me.

Okay… Now, explanations…

I realize I said Naruto would be Takashi-level. I may have worded that poorly. I meant Naruto's contribution to the group _as a whole_ would be comparable to Takashi. This includes combat, yes, but also extends to semi-military planning, scavenging, pragmatism and all-round being-willing-to-do-the-nasty-stuff.

Naruto is going to get Nerfed as the infection spreads, yes. But he is still going to be able to use chakra to a certain extent. That alone puts him on a level comparable to Saeko, combat wise. This also allows him some interesting opportunities, mainly scouting and thinning the hordes of the dead.

I realize I probably sound extremely inconsistent as to Naruto's strength and relative worth, but I suck at conveying my ideas. Suffice to say that, while Naruto will be incredibly important to the group, he will not be the sole reason they survive.

Takashi is there mainly to keep the group stable.

Rei helps him with that and serves as overall moral support and a helper to Saya.

Saeko is the main muscle and combat-leader.

Saya is overall knowledge, planning and record keeping (i.e. length food and water will last, etc.).

Kota is (duh) ranged and tech support.

Naruto will be scouting, scavenging and defense.

I'm over-simplifying things, but that's the gist of how I see thongs working out.

As for Naruto's drawbacks… He's going to get sick. He's going to get slower and weaker. Even then, he's still going to be as strong as a baseline-human (see my notes in chap. 2 about chakra's effects). He will need time to recuperate after strenuous activity. The exact circumstances haven't been completely plotted out yet, but expect a couple of detours before the apartment.

As for Shidou? I rather imagine he is dead. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to write about a sex-cult. That's a little out of my comfort-zone at this stage.

Why did he die here, where he survived in canon? Consider it the butterfly effect. Naruto's presence changed the positioning of the zombies, and Shidou's group got overwhelmed.

Oh yes, about that. Naruto has no idea about anything. He's going to call the zombies a bunch of different things (as you've no doubt realized) and he'll do the same to the survivors until their properly introduced.

Anyway… all questions and comments are, of course, welcome provided that I can actually communicate with you guys (guest reviews, I'm looking at you!). Hopefully I'll not lose to many of you with this chapter.

Also, I'd like some feedback as to the way I attempt to communicate the fight scenes. Is it terrible, stupid, inappropriate, unique, fitting, what? Every bit helps.

Read, enjoy and review.

~GrinGrin

PS- two things…

Firstly, I'm killing the poll regarding my ANs by tomorrow at the latest.

Secondly, I've been mucking about in my profile page. I've put requests, general info, milestones or targets and generally cleaned it up a bit. Pay it a visit and see if it can either help you or me, yeah?

Written: 06/01/2014

Posted: 07/01/2014


	4. Confrontation

_I do not own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead._

**Cynical**

**Confrontation**

_Oh crap! Not another turn!_

Naruto was under no illusions that he would most likely have been a smear on the road, had it not been for his ability to stick to the roof with chakra. As it was, it was just one hell of a workout.

Thankfully they seem to have come to a fairly straight road and the bus was finally slowing down a bit. Sighing, Naruto finally got up from where he was lying, stomach to the cold metal roof, and started looking around.

_Shit. Where the hell am I?_

Buildings everywhere, most even taller than the Hokage tower. glass and steel and concrete everywhere. The wealth of this place must be the stuff of legends. Or, worse yet, this was common place.

It was sad to say, but the only thing Naruto was actually familiar with was the raging fire he could see in this strange, cold city. He really was far away from home, it seemed.

Settling down into a sitting position, he started processing today's events.

_Okay then. Go to sleep at the Tower, wake up in the middle of the day in an unknown city. Most likely causes – dream, interference between seals, bad ramen, poisonous substances in Forest of Death, genjutsu, another Fox dream or unknown jutsu._

_Wake up, get my kit together and make way towards nearest building. What was that anyway? Uniforms present… so school? But aren't these guys a little old for school? … maybe not, if this really was a different world or something. But how did those two girls know how to fight so well? And where did blondie come from?_

_Get attacked by what, at first, seemed like drunken civvies. Get bit on shoulder and kill the first one by shoving kunai through eye. Second one doesn't die from normally fatal wounds and keeps on coming. Second target also doesn't exclaim in pain, bleed or otherwise show evidence of injury. Target succeeds in pinning me down in my surprise. Whatever these things are, they're surprisingly strong._

_Kawarimi to save life. Also strange. Kawarimi with one of those things was really easy, more in line with a log than a person. Strange. Anyway, stabbing another through the eye killed it as well. So, most likely something to do with the brain, seeing as some of those things were already missing an eye or two._

_They seem to track prey through sound but how do they know where to grab or bite? Maybe sound is their main means of tracking until they get nearer? Must investigate._

_Hook up with survivors. Seemingly successful escape, but no way to know their initial number. Two members too adjusted for fighting, look into combat training in past. Also keep eye on the bluette. Scary, too much like Anko. Sword used mainly for samurai in training. Need to investigate that possibility as well._

Naruto rolled his neck a bit to relieve the building tension his new environment was instilling him with.

_Do these people even know about ninjas? How am I supposed to explain that to them? 'Hi, I'm a supernatural child-soldier powerful enough to kill everyone you've ever known. And I'm consider weak where I'm from. Oh yeah, I also have a demon inside me'._

Snorting at the sheer madness that seemed to imply, Naruto finally got supremely bored with just sitting on top of this speeding box. Rapping a kunai on the roof to get their attention, he lent over the side (with a good helping of chakra preventing him from falling down) and looked at them through the window.

"We need to talk."

_Dammit. I need to think things through. They probably haven't heard a thing I said._

Or maybe they did. The bus seemed to be slowing down. Time for some explaining.

As Naruto hopped off the roof and moved to the door, his shoulder pulsed with pain. Again.

_Shit. Bleeding again. Thought it scabbed over._

Looking up from his bloody-hand, he was confronted by the wooden sword of the bluette aimed between his eyes.

The boy, the one with the club, was standing just behind her. "You said you were bit? Fuck. You're going to turn into of Them. Dammit. You're just a kid…"

He bit his lip. "Kindest thing is probably to put you out of reach of that misery…"

* * *

AN: Yeah… not-really-a-cliffhanger for not-really-an-update.

I'm not happy with this at all, but I need to start _somewhere_ so yeah...

My original intention was to make this a longer chapter (i.e. detailing this chapter and the next as one big one), but my muse is being a stubborn bitch, so this is it, for now anyway.

Not a lot to say, other than showcasing this Naruto's thought processes.

Guest review responses (*sighs*):

**Note: Will most likely contain spoilers.**

_**Not that anyone really cares.**_

_**If you do, just skip it.**_

Naruto is going to be a carrier of the virus/plague, i.e. he bites someone, they will eventually succumb. The characters don't know this yet. It's not going to be a pleasant discovery.

**End Spoilers**

_**That went quickly, didn't**_ it

As for Naruto being held back… consider that AU then. As for Sakura being crippled, that was before I decided to stick only to the HotD-verse. Originally, I was going to do a Naruto-verse chapter every once-and-a-while, so that was there that would have fit in. Now it just serves as a way for the story to live up to its name in the first chapter.

I really shouldn't be answering those guest reviews, but fuck-it. Most likely the last time I'm doing it though.

Anyway, I'd think that the next update is going to take a while. I generally suck at conversations (hey, I'm still starting out as a writer of multi-chapter stories), so I'm dreading this 7-way word-deathtrap.

AS always, read, (hopefully) enjoy and review.

~GrinGrin

Written: 15/01/2014

Posted: 15/01/2014


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